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Exploring Jazz Chords on Ukulele

Core Chords are the basic set of chords needed to play a wide range of music, in a variety of styles. This set of chords includes basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and the core 4-part "jazz" chords.

This book's focuses on the 4-part core "jazz" chords. These jazz chords are advanced chords that find their way into a wide range of music.

Exploring Jazz Chords takes the core chords from A Guide to Advanced Chords for Ukulele and shows their use over a variety of common chord progressions based on songs from the standard jazz repertoire.

Errata

Errata: Exploring Jazz Chords on Ukulele

1/52/2007 - (20070102.1.3),
(pg 14) m7 chord fourth voicing over
should have all the notes in the same fret.

1/2/2007 - (20070102.1.2), Book released

11/30/2006 - Errata File Created

The latest download ( PDF or eBook ) always has the lastest changes and errata changes incorporated and contain the most up-to-date version of the file. If you download the book from LearningUkulele.com you'll be notified when that is a new version of the book.

Book Samples

Book Samples: Exploring Jazz Chords on Ukulele

Sample pages may appear faded, cropped, or partially obscured. Downloaded copies do not include these imperfections and are the most up-to-date versions, including all edits, additions and revisions in a printer friendly format.

Core Ukulele Chords - The Big Six

Core Chords for Ukulele, The Big Six - From four F7 chord voicings or shapes, your can build your massive 4-part, a.k.a., “jazz” chord vocabulary. Beyond basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and a core set of 4-part chords. There are just too many chords shapes too memorize. Learning the principles of how chords are constructed and the ukulele fingerboard are the way to go. Then you can create more advanced chords like 9#11, 7#5-9, 13b5, 7+9 on the fly as needed.

Key Signatures - Cycle of Fourths and Fifths

Related Books

A Guide to Advanced Ukulele Chords - Volume I

Beyond learning basic Ukulele chords most players struggle with advanced chords. Commonly called 'jazz' chords, these more sophisticated voicings find a wide use in all forms of music.

A Guide to Advanced Chords for Ukulele - presents a highly organized and efficient approach to the mysterious subject of advanced chords. Chord dictionaries are not the answer. Even chord theory does not offer any insight into unraveling the complexity of Ukulele chord voicings.

AGCPB1UKE

A Guide to Blues Chord Progressions for Ukulele A to Z

The Blues are at the heart of all American music. It has influenced Country, Rock, Folk, Jazz, Bluegrass and just about every form of American music we listen to today.

The Advanced Guide to Chord Progressions for Ukulele - Volume I

Before individual chords become the background of songs, they must be put into orders called chord progressions. The Advanced Guide to Chord Progressions for Ukulele organizes progressions according to string family, position, voice leading and chord magnetism. The Advanced Guide to Chord Progressions for Ukulele is an excellent preparation for the art of melody and chord on the ukulele and more advanced accompaniment.

Volume I features the principles of voice leading applied to chord progressions. These principles are explained using chords from volume I of The Advanced Guide to Ukulele Chords. Chapters with common major and minor full diatonic, partial diatonic and chromatic chord progressions are also included to further explore voice leading principles presented in the book.

A Child is Born

A Foggy Day

A Foggy Day is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film A Damsel in Distress. It was originally titled "A Foggy Day (In London Town)", and is often still referred to as such.

All of Me

All The Things You Are

All The Things You Are is a song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was written for the musical Very Warm for May (1939), where it was introduced by Hiram Sherman, Frances Mercer, Hollace Shaw, and Ralph Stuart. It was later featured in the film Broadway Rhythm (1944), and was performed during the opening credits and as a recurring theme for the romantic comedy A Letter for Evie (1945). The song ranked in the top five of the Record Buying Guide of Billboard, a pre-retail listing which surveyed primarily the jukebox industry. Recordings by Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and Frankie Masters propelled the song during its initial popularity.

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves is a much-recorded popular song. Originally it was a 1945 French song "Les Feuilles mortes" (literally "The Dead Leaves") with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prevert. Yves Montand (with Irene Joachim) introduced "Les feuilles mortes" in 1946 in the film Les Portes de la Nuit. The American songwriter Johnny Mercer wrote English lyrics in 1947 and Jo Stafford was among the first to perform this version. Autumn Leaves became a pop standard and a jazz standard in both languages and both as an instrumental and with a singer.

Bingo

Bingo, also known as Bingo Was His Name-O_and _There Was a Farmer Who Had a Dog, is an English language children's song of obscure origin. In most modern forms, the song involves spelling the name of a dog, and with increasing letters replaced with handclaps on each repetition.

Black Orpheus

Black Orpheus (Portuguese: Orfeu Negro) is a 1959 film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play Orfeu da Conceição by Vinicius de Moraes, which is an adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in the modern context of a favela in Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval. The film was an international co-production between production companies in Brazil, France and Italy.

Blue Bossa

Blue Bossa is an instrumental jazz composition by Kenny Dorham (August 30, 1924 - December 5, 1972). It was introduced on Joe Henderson's 1963 album Page One. A blend of hard bop and bossa nova, the tune was possibly influenced by Dorham's visit to the Rio de Janeiro Jazz Festival in 1961. The tune has since been recorded numerous times by different artists, making it a jazz standard.

Bluesette

Call Me

Call Me (a Tony Hatch composition first recorded by Petula Clark) was the first single released from his 1966 A&M album, The More I See You. The title single from the album, sung in a soft, very high tenor range and played on primarily adult-formatted radio stations, confused some disc jockeys, who were unfamiliar with Montez's past work. The song became enormously popular and has been used many times in movies, notablyFrantic, starring Harrison Ford. When announcing the song, the DJs would often refer to Montez as a female. But by the time the album was released, Montez's pictures on the front and back of the jacket cleared up any mystery surrounding his sex, as explained in the album's notes on the back of the record jacket.

Cute

Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the Batman television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film The Odd Couple and the subsequent TV series of the same name.

Don't Get Around Much Anymore

Don't Get Around Much Anymore is a jazz standard with music by Duke Ellington and lyrics by Bob Russell. The tune was originally titled "Never No Lament" and was first recorded by Ellington in 1940 as a big band instrumental. Russell's lyrics and the new title were added in 1942.

Fly Me to the Moon

Fly Me to the Moon is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was titled originally “In Other Words”, and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets. The song became known popularly as “Fly Me to the Moon” from its first line, and after a few years the publishers changed the title to that officially.

Giant Steps

Giant Steps is a jazz composition by John Coltrane, first appearing as the first track on the album of the same name (1960). The composition is a milestone in jazz, given the difficulty of improvising its rapid progression of chord changes that progress through three keys (see Coltrane changes) shifted by major thirds, creating an augmented triad.

Girl From Ipanema

The Girl from Ipanema (Garota de Ipanema) is an essential jazz standard that every jazz musician should know. The A sections chord progression, basically a I II7 II V is functionally the same as Take the A Train, Jersey Bounce, Desafinado and a few others.

I'll Remember April

I’ll Remember April was written by Gene de Paul with the lyrics by Patricia Johnston and Don Raye. The song was published in 1942. It was once sung by Judy Garland. The song debuted in the 1942 Abbott and Costello comedy Ride 'em Cowboy, sung by Dick Foran.

My Favorite Things

Satin Doll

Satin Doll - is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Written in 1953, the song has been recorded countless times, by such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, 101 Strings, and Nancy Wilson. Its chord progression is well known for its unusual use of chords and opening with a ii-V-I turnaround.

Shiny Stockings

Solar

Solar is a musical composition attributed to Miles Davis on the studio album Walkin' (1954), considered a modern jazz standard. The tune has been played and recorded by many musicians including his former bandmates/collaborators Lee Konitz, Bill Evans, Dave Holland, Keith Jarrett or Jack DeJohnette.

Someday My Prince Will Come

Some Day My Prince Will Come is a popular song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was written by Larry Morey (lyrics) & Frank Churchill (music), and performed by Adriana Caselotti (Snow White's voice in the movie). It was also featured in the 1979 stage adaptation of the 1937 animated musical movie. In AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, it was ranked as the 19th greatest film song of all time.

Spain

St. Thomas

St. Thomas - This is perhaps the most recognizable instrumental in the repertoire of American jazz tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who is usually credited as its composer. However, it is actually based on a traditional nursery song from the Virgin Islands, which Rollins' mother sang to him when he was a child. As such, it has a distinct Caribbean vibe to it.

Summer Samba

Summer Samba (also known as So Nice or its original Portuguese title, "Samba de Verão") is a 1964 bossa nova song by Brazilian composer Marcos Valle, with English-language lyrics by Norman Gimbel; the original Portuguese lyrics came from Paulo Sérgio Valle, brother to the composer.

Sway

Sway is the English version of "¿Quién será?", a 1953 mambo song by Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. In 1954 the English lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel and recorded by Dean Martin (his recording reached number fifteen on the Billboard magazine best-seller chart and number six on the UK chart).

Take Five

Take Five is a jazz piece written by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studios in New York City on June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959, this piece became one of the group's best-known records. It is famous for its distinctive catchy saxophone melody; imaginative, jolting drum solo; and use of the unusual quintuple (5/4) time, from which its name is derived. The song was first played to a live audience by The Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Village Gate nightclub in New York City in 1959.

Take the A Train

Take the 'A' Train is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. It is arguably the most famous of the many compositions to emerge from the collaboration of Ellington and Strayhorn.

There Will Never Be Another You

There Will Never Be Another You is a popular song with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Mack Gordon for the Twentieth Century Fox musical Iceland (1942) starring Sonja Henie. The song was published in 1942, and is one of the most widely known and performed standards of the jazz repertoire.

Wave

Wave (also known as "Vou Te Contar" in Portuguese) is a song written by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Recorded as an instrumental on Jobim's 1967 album of the same name, English lyrics were added by Jobim for a November 11, 1969 recording by Frank Sinatra, released on his 1970 album Sinatra & Company.

What's New?

What's New? is a 1939 popular song composed by Bob Haggart, with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was originally an instrumental tune titled "I'm Free" by Haggart in 1938, when Haggart was a member of Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. The tune was written with a trumpet solo, meant to showcase the talents of band-mate Billy Butterfield. Crosby's orchestra recorded "I'm Free" the same day it was written.

Witchcraft

Witchcraft is a popular song from 1957 composed by Cy Coleman with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh. It was released as a single by Frank Sinatra, and reached number twenty in the U.S., spending sixteen weeks on the charts.

Just browsing over both books, they look fantastic! I'm a guitarist and uke player for over 25 years and was thinking about writing a ukulele book but you've already written what I think are the best, most comprehensive and thorough books I've ever seen for the instrument. I just might end up buying every book you've written and I'll be giving my highest recommendation for your books to my friends and students. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such great books! — Peter Rhee

Aloha, Curt, All I can say is WOW! What you have accomplished is simply incredible! All the best — Glen Hirabayashi, The Aloha Boys

Folks, if you haven't stopped by Curt's site, do so right now! ..And get his books, they are fantastic. This guy knows his stuff and is able to pass it along too. — Alan Johnson Proprietor, The 4th Peg

I can highly recommend Curt's Uke books — I have four of them and they are excellent. — fatveg — Portland

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This sit has ben profesionaly red. awl tpyos aree free and no aditonal chrge • I'm blaming it on “jazz” fingers
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.